Plans for the regeneration of the Wester Hailes have taken a key step forward with City of Edinburgh Council appointing the consultancy team that will head the project.
The team will liaise with the community to translate its vision into a masterplan for the area.
The commission has been awarded to a multi-disciplinary consultant team led by Turner & Townsend, who will act as project managers, together with partners Stallan Brand, architects, lead designer and community engagement, Atelier 10, building services and sustainability, OOBE, landscape architects, and Goodson Associates, engineering and transportation.
Setting out a comprehensive, phased approach for the next 10 to 15 years, the Wester Hailes masterplan will build on community aspirations as set out in the local place plan as well as a number of early action projects that are already under way.
These include improvements to existing council homes and estates, delivery of new-build affordable homes at Dumbryden Gardens, early design work for the replacement of the high school, as well as improvements to Westside Plaza.
READ MORE: New owner reveals £100m shopping centre revamp plan
The plan will seek to maximise distinctive characteristics of the area including its canal-side location, existing assets, opportunities for wider economic and social benefits and the role of key partners and the local community.
Working with the council and the community, the masterplan team will look at opportunities to implement improvements to existing transport and active travel infrastructure, new housing-led developments and adapting public sector delivery models.
Wester Hailes, where scenes in Trainspotting 2 were filmed, is also one of the first communities in Scotland to start to develop its own local place plan following their introduction within the Planning (Scotland) Act in 2019.
Adam McVey, City of Edinburgh Council leader, said: “This is a hugely important project that will offer real opportunities for people in Wester Hailes.
“The appointment of the right team to take the community’s ambitions for their area forward was critical and we believe the award-winning team, led by Turner & Townsend will meet our goals.”
James Darrie, director and Edinburgh office leader at Turner & Townsend, said: “From upgrading transport systems to delivering new affordable homes, this much needed regeneration promises to bring transformative long-term benefits to the Wester Hailes area.
“Our local team will work closely with the community to ensure it becomes the thriving and flourishing neighbourhood that residents want and deserve.”
Eoghan Howard, chair of Wester Hailes Community Trust and Leah Black, chief executive at WHALE Arts, said: "We welcome the news that Turner & Townsend have been appointed and that this important project will be starting in 2021. WHALE Arts, Wester Hailes Community Trust and Prospect Housing have been working alongside the council for the last 18 months following a piece of work in 2019/2020 working towards a local place plan.
“The goal has been to ensure that the community-led local place plan will be aligned to the regeneration project so that local views and ideas are at the heart of changes and improvements to the area.
"This builds on the Westside Plaza design process which was led by the Wester Hailes Community Trust and has resulted in an improved social area, giving local residents an idea of how important it is for regeneration to be led by people living in the area."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here